Examining Beatitudes

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● Rev 16:15 . . Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all
who are watching for me, who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk
naked and embarrassed.

Christ's return is commonly spoken of as "soon" but the Bible speaks of it as
sudden and without warning rather than soon.

● Matt 24:27 . . For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to
the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

"all who keep their robes ready so they will not need to walk naked and
embarrassed" is a colloquialism similar to the old saw: Be careful you don't get
caught with your pants down.

Quite a few people have heard that Christ is returning some day to rule the world,
but they don't worry about it because in the backs of their minds they're pretty
sure it won't happen in their lifetimes. Well; Christ does not admire that attitude
because you just never know when and/or where lightening will strike next.

● Matt 24:42-44 . .Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your
Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what
time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would
not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for
the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

NOTE: In this regard: beware the wild utterances of prophecy mongers like the
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh Day Adventists lest you find yourself very
disillusioned and very disappointed.
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● Rev 19:9 . .Then he said to me: Write: Blessed are those who are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb!

Politicians call us voters. Hollywood calls us box office. Sports call us fans. The
media calls us tax payers. The President calls us fellow Americans. Wall Street calls
us investors. The church calls us members. The police call us juveniles and adults.
The military calls us civilians. The bank calls us depositors. The airlines call us
passengers. Big box stores call us shoppers.

But how many of those agencies have ever thought enough about you to add your
name to the guest list of one of their wedding parties? Probably none; and that's
because they don't want to know you like that.

It's normal to assume that God would invite His own people to participate in the
Lamb's celebration; and at first that's what He did. But many of them declined; so
according to one of Jesus' parables, God broadened the invitation to include John
Que and Jane Doe, viz: everybody and anybody interested.

● Matt 22:7-13 . .Then the king said to his servants: The wedding is ready, but
those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as
many as you find, invite to the wedding. So those servants went out into the
highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the
wedding hall was filled with guests.
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● Rev 20:5-6 . . Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over
such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

One of the reasons why the first resurrection is so blessed is because the people
who obtain it will rise from the dead immortal; whereas people whose return to life
is delayed till the second resurrection won't be immortal.

The thousand years are to take place right here on the current Earth prior to its
obliteration, which is really to our advantage because all the places we did not, nor
could not, visit and/or explore in this life will still be available to us for a while in
the next.

Also during that time, man and beast will be at peace with one another so that we'll
have nothing to fear from critters like poisonous bugs, viruses, piranha, crocodiles,
deadly snakes, nor big predators like lions and tigers, and bears, and wolves, etc.
We will be able to tour the globe unmolested by anything normally harmful to
human life, health, and safety.

In addition, according to Psalm 91, celestial beings will be assigned to protect us
from falls so that those of us afraid of heights in this life won't fear them then; we'll
be free to climb, hike, and explore all the really dangerous canyons and mountains
that we tend to avoid for now. Drowning won't be a hazard either; nor will war, and
crime, and toxic vegetation.

Immortality coupled with angelic body guards can't get any better than that. Man, I
am really looking forward to God getting those thousand years up and running.
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● Rev 22:7 . . Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed are they who heed the words
of the prophecy of this book.

The book in view is Revelation, wherein are given a number of special events that
serve as indicators leading up to Christ's arrival. Folks informed of those indicators
will be ready for him whereas those who never bothered to learn about them will be
caught with their pants down, do to speak.

"quickly" is misleading and tends to give the wrong impression. The Greek word can
also can mean suddenly; for example:

● Matt 24:27 . . For as the lightning lights up the entire sky, so it will be when the
Son of Man comes.

So it will be with Christ's arrival: one second he's not here, the next second: bang!
he's on-site.

● Matt 24:37-39 . . As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the
Son of Man. For in the days before the Flood, people were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they
knew nothing about what would happen until the Flood came and took them all
away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man"

Noah was a preacher. (2Pet 2:5) Had the people of his era bothered to listen to his
message, they would've been prepared for the Flood; but as it was, they were
taken by surprise.

A Danger Foreseen;
Is Half-Avoided.
(Cheyenne Proverb)
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● Rev 22:14-15 . . Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the
right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

I ran into a bit of a problem with that passage. The Greek text used to translate my
English versions doesn't contain words for "wash their robes". They're apparently
arbitrary. Some versions say "do his commandments" but those words are arbitrary
too.

So then, just to play it safe, I suggest it might be a good idea to edit that passage
so it reads like this:

"Blessed are those who have the right to the tree of life, and may go through the
gates into the city."

The city in view is a brand spanking new Jerusalem constructed off-site in heaven
and then lowered into position on a brand new earth. (Rev 21:1-27). In the past, a
new Jerusalem was re-constructed atop the ruins of a former Jerusalem, but not
this one. The new Earth is fresh and new; there are no ruins anywhere on it to be
found.

According to Gen 3:22, the tree of life sustains perpetual youth; and is also a good
remedy for whatever ails you. (Rev 22:2)

The tree is located inside the walls of the new city so that in order to take
advantage of the tree's benefits, people have to first get past the gates. Not just
anyone is admitted who wants in. Immigration is tightly controlled.

● Rev 22:15 . . . Outside are the dogs-- those who practice magic arts, the sexually
immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices
dishonesty.

● Rev 21:27 . . Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is
shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book
of life.

NOTE: In Rev 3:18, Christ offers clean white garments rather than encouraging
folks to launder the ones they have. (cf. Rev 3:5 & Rev 7:9)
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